What is Clinical Malpractice?

When people avail medical services, they practically entrust their lives to the doctors that will handle their case. As such, a huge amount of trust is invested in a particular treatment or consultation. Because of this reason, the failure to provide adequate medical service is tantamount to betrayal of trust. In fact, this failure is now made punishable by law. This is the reason why the term “medical negligence” is now part of the legal Lexicon. What is clinical malpractice, how is this committed, and what are the potential consequences of committing this?

Clinical malpractice is a term used interchangeably with medical malpractice. As such, this is defined as the failure to administer medical service at par with the high standards of such profession. Often times, such errors can slip thru the cracks without many complications, but there are a lot of times when adverse complications such as injuries, illnesses, and even death can ensue because of said error. It’s when these complications come about where clinical malpractice can become a major issue, and can lead to the removal of the doctor’s (or even an entire hospital/clinic’s) duties to administer medical service to others.

While learning what clinical malpractice all about is, you’ll be surprised that such events are actually more common than what you’ll initially assume. In fact, it’s been reported that thousands of people die each year because of different kinds of medical malpractice. And the costs of compensatory medical care needed by patients to recover from such conditions can get huge in a hurry. However, even though these errors are seemingly commonplace, not a lot of people actually know they have the right (according to law) to pursue a case against these doctors. This is the reason why the number of clinical malpractice suits every year is relatively low compared to the number of malpractice suits happening in different hospitals every single day.

What is clinical malpractice, and what are the rights of the person that’s victimized with such practices? Actually, a patient has all the right in the world to pursue a case if he/she is a victim (or knows someone who is) of clinical malpractice. Cases like these often go all the way to the court, with investigations checking if the doctor and his/her staff indeed are accountable for the less-than-ideal result of the medical task. The investigation process include the search for evidences, interrogations and testimonials from involved parties, and analysis of technical issues involved. In the event that the complainant wins the case, he/she can receive both compensatory and punitive damages. The medical team, depending on the degree of negligence that transpired, can be relieved of their duties.

What is clinical malpractice and why is it important for every person to know it better? Simply put, every person has the right to gain access to quality medical care. When it’s not provided to them, it’s practically breaching their basic rights to live a good quality of life. The presence of laws against medical malpractice ensures that citizens can receive quality medical care when we need it.